Unusual but enchanting novel

Dec 13, 2008

by lolododo27

Rating:

+5

Love in the Time of Cholera may be one of the most captivating books I have ever read. From start to finish, Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses the most beautiful turns of phrases ever printed on a page. It tells the story of a complicated-but-subtle love triangle between a woman and two men; her husband, and the man she loved as a teenager.

The premise of the story goes that woman, Fermina Daza, rejects her youthful lover, Florentino Ariza and marries a young doctor, Juvenal Urbino, instead. The rejected lover is heartbroken and vows to win Fermina back at any cost. Without giving anything away, the book trails Florentino's attempt to win Fermina Daza back over the course of many years and many interesting events.

Though the plot is certainly not an original one, the way it is told is remarkable. The story is set in an unnamed Columbian town, and envelopes the entire lives of all of the characters. It details the relationship between Fermina and Florentino and gives valuable insight into the marriage of Fermina and Urbino.

The best parts are all details. And, as the title would suggest, it is a love story. One neat thing I did on the second read was to underline all the different types of love that are mentioned in the story--there are close to 100--romantic love, fatherly love, platonic love, etc. It's amazing what GGM can think of.

The only thing that stopped me from giving this book a +5 is One Hundred Years of Solitude, a 400-ish page novel that Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote before Love in the Time of Cholera. Read that, and you'll never be able to give another book 100% of your approval.

Its a very painful story. Yes i like the details and the writing of Marquez, but this whole story is almost like a fetish for sadness and love that has become more than an obsession. It is a love sick lifestyle of a man who worships what he cannot have. I wasnt sorry that i read the book, but i somehow wanted more from Marquez.

This might be my favorite so far of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novels. It's the language and his unique voice more so than the story itself that makes his work so enjoyable. In this particular case the storyline is a little far-fetched (fifty years of unrequited love?) but that only seems to add to its certain charm. What's a little suspension of reality in a great work of fiction?

Wiki

Love in the Time of Cholera (Spanish: ''El amor en los tiempos del cólera'', 1985) is a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez about a fifty-year love triangle between Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza, and Doctor Juvenal Urbino set in the late 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century (roughly 1880 to 1930). The novel, a tale of unrequited love, explores the idea that suffering for love is a kind of nobility.